Samsung Galaxy S 4 family has grown quite a bit in recent weeks thanks to new additions like the Google Edition Galaxy S 4, Galaxy S 4 mini, Galaxy S 4 Active and Galaxy S 4 Zoom. It appears that the company's got at least one more Galaxy S 4 up its sleeve, though, as co-CEO J.K. Shin has revealed that Samsung will soon release a new version of the Galaxy S 4 with support for faster 4G data speeds.

Speaking to Reuters, Shin revealed that Samsung is prepping a Galaxy S 4 model that will be capable of accessing LTE-Advanced service. The device will be powered by a Qualcomm processor and is expected to be "slightly more expensive" than the regular Galaxy S 4. Shin said this new LTE-Advanced Galaxy S 4 will hit South Korean shelves as early as this month, adding that Samsung is currently holding discussions with multiple overseas carriers about launching the speedier S 4.

As its name suggests, LTE-Advanced is an improved version of the LTE service that many operators already offer. LTE-Advanced isn't nearly as widespread as plain ol' LTE quite yet, though, with Russian carrier Yota launching the first commercial LTE-Advanced network in October 2012 that produced speeds of 300Mbps. In the U.S., AT&T is aiming to begin work on its own LTE-Advanced offering later in 2013, and Verizon has confirmed that it's planning to support the speedier data service as well.

With so little LTE-Advanced service available right now, it appears that only a small number of consumers will actually be able to use this upcoming LTE-Advanced Galaxy S 4 to its full potential. Still, it's kind of exciting to learn that we'll soon see a new LTE-Advanced smartphone hitting store shelves, with Samsung's shin claiming that this new Galaxy S 4 will be the first LTE-Advanced product to commercially launch. The unit won't really be much different in use than a regular S 4 for most of us, but hey, that doesn't mean that we can't drool over high network speeds that it'll be capable of producing, right? 

Via Reuters